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en2017 - VOA60Wed, 13 Dec 2017 22:07:35 -0500Pangea CMS – VOAHopes, Fears in $10 Billion Wisconsin Foxconn Deal When Gonzalo Perez bought the Castlewood Restaurant last December, it was one of the few outposts among the nearby corn and soybean fields hungry farmers could depend as a place to dine out.
It could become much more than that for Perez.
“It’s my lottery ticket,” he told VOA.
That’s because one of the largest economic development projects in the United States is moving in… right next door.
Taiwanese company Foxconn plans to build a massive flat screen manufacturing and technology facility in nearby Mount Pleasant, employing thousands of workers when completed.
It’s only a few kilometers away from Perez’s restaurant, and he hopes to start cashing in... soon.
“I hope I get a lot of business from construction people in the beginning,” he told VOA from the dining room of another restaurant he owns in a neighboring town which could also benefit from the economic boom the project could bring to the entire region.
WATCH: Foxconn deal
​ “You are going to probably bring a lot of hotels to the area, bring a lot of chain restaurants to the area. This is a big industry,” Perez explained.
“As they build this facility they are going to require 10,000 construction employees, plus around another 6,000 indirect employees,” says Mark Hogan, Secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, or WEDC.
“When this ecosystem is up and running in the state of Wisconsin it will be an additional 13,000 employees to the state, and another upwards of 20,000 indirect or induced jobs.”
Hogan’s WEDC is one of the chief institutions in the state that worked on the deal to attract Foxconn to Wisconsin.
“We passed special legislation which really created a pathway for the company to be successful in the state. And that had to do with environmental regulations. It had to do with incentives. It had to do with a lot of different things that just kind of cleared a pathway. All things that every other company in the state would have to comply with, but we wanted to create a faster lane for the company to be able to operate under.”
In the package offered to Foxconn is approximately $3 billion dollars in tax incentives if the company invests around $10 billion dollars in its facility and workforce. But those incentives meant to entice the company were also a concern among its critics.
“This is the largest in U.S. history, and it was somewhat surprising because Wisconsin does not generally play this game,” says Steven Deller, Professor of Applied Economics and an Economic Development Specialist with the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Deller says one of his concerns, not just as an academic but also as a taxpayer, is the potential for the state to actually owe money to Foxconn.
“But there is the Wisconsin Agricultural and Manufacturing Tax Credit,” he explained to VOA. “The way that the taxpayers may be on the hook for paying some money, if Foxconn is not paying taxes, and they have a tax credit, that means the state is paying Foxconn. So a lot of it is going to hinge on how big that facility becomes. Right not its starting at 3,000 - it could go up to 13,000. We have no idea how big it will actually become.”
For Gonzalo Perez, who came to the U.S. from Mexico 30 years ago and worked his way up from being a laborer in restaurants to now owning two of them, his biggest concern isn’t the size of the plant’s workforce or the tax incentives … it’s the potential increase in the number of his customers.
Right now he says about 200 people visit his restaurant on a good day.
“I hope to triple that,” he says.
He may not have to wait long to see an uptick in business.
Groundbreaking on the new facility is planned for 2018, and as many as 1000 Foxconn employees could be working in the state later that year.
https://www.voanews.com/a/foxconn-deal-with-wisconsin/4131311.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/foxconn-deal-with-wisconsin/4131311.htmlThu, 23 Nov 2017 03:21:39 -0500USAEconomywebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)https://www.voanews.com/a/foxconn-deal-with-wisconsin/4131311.html#commentsHopes, Fears in $10 Billion Deal to Bring Taiwanese Manufacturer to WisconsinThe $10 billion-dollar deal to bring a Taiwanese-based electronics manufacturer to Wisconsin is raising questions from critics despite the promise that the investment could provide tens of thousands of new American jobs and other long term benefits. The deal's critics say Wisconsin taxpayers could lose money in what is the largest U.S. state tax incentive package ever offered to a foreign company. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh has more from Racine, Wisconsin.https://www.voanews.com/a/4131217.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/4131217.htmlWed, 22 Nov 2017 20:42:00 -0500USAEconomywebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)Rohingya Refugee Finds Identity Helping Others ResettleFor most of his life, Hamidul Hassan says he has struggled to find an identity.
As a Muslim Rohingya living in Myanmar, he had no passport, lacked the freedom to worship his religion, was not free to travel and had no formal education.
He says his only hope for a future was to leave the only country he ever knew.
So, in 2012, he fled to neighboring Bangladesh before reaching Malaysia.
When he eventually arrived off an airplane as a refugee resettling in the United States in 2015, he spoke no English.
Finding a mission in US
But just two years later, Hassan has found his voice … and a mission.
“Except Burmese, I speak five different languages,” he told VOA. “Bengali, Hindi, Malaysia, English and my own language, Rohingya.”
English is a recent addition to his resume but has created exhaustive demand for Hassan’s services in Fort Wayne’s growing Rohingya community.
“Here, nobody translates for the Rohingya, so I am the one,” he said.
Which means day and night, Hassan is essentially on call, traveling around the city to assist about 150 Rohingya families with everything from hospital visits to shopping trips.
He recently quit his job translating for Catholic Charities, the organization helping many Rohingya resettle in Indiana, to take a better paying job in a factory, which means most of his free time now is spent helping others.
“Whenever they need me, they need my assistance,” he explains. “So if I’m already with someone, I can’t give them time, so of course, they need more translators.”
The violent crackdown by military forces on the ethnic Muslim Rohingya population in Myanmar has forced hundreds of thousands to flee across international borders in what officials from the United Nations have categorized as “textbook ethnic cleansing.”
WATCH: Tensions Follow Rohingya Refugees to United States
Refugees
The U.S. State Department’s Refugee Processing Center reports in 2016, those fleeing Myanmar, including many Rohingya, account for the largest number of refugees resettling in the United States, outpacing those fleeing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.
The unique dialect of the Rohingya has made resettlement and integration somewhat challenging in communities where few speak their language, and has fueled demand for those like Hassan who can help guide them through their new life in America.
Hassan was one of the first Rohingya to resettle in Fort Wayne, and he was hoping to get some help when the rest of his family arrived to join him.
But the arrival of military forces in his village in Myanmar’s Rakhine state changed those plans.
“They fire our house at midnight, so my two brothers and my sister-in-law and their whole family were sleeping at midnight, so they don’t know. So according to my mom, my mom told me before they fire the house, they locked the door from the outside, so they could not get out, and they threw the petrol down the house,” Hassan says.
​Family tragedy
Hassan says both of his brothers died in that fire in July.
His mother was shot in the leg as she made her escape from Myanmar to a refugee camp in Bangladesh, where she was treated and now waits to be reunited with the rest of her family, who are scattered around the globe in the wake of continuing violence in Myanmar.
As he racks up the miles on his used car traveling around the city of Fort Wayne, the heart-breaking stories Hassan hears from those he helps are strikingly similar to what his own family faced.
He says it reinforces to him the importance of his role in helping fellow Rohingya refugees find stability, and hopes more can find peace alongside him and the other Burmese of many different religious and ethnic backgrounds who have all sought refuge in Fort Wayne.
“Whatever went wrong in Burma is not going to happen in this country, because we are all refugees,” he emphasized during his interview with VOA. “We have to live here together.”
Together in a community now made up of more than 6,000 refugees from Myanmar, making Fort Wayne one of the largest Burmese communities in the United States.
https://www.voanews.com/a/rohingya-refugee-finds-identity-helping-others-resettle/4111531.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/rohingya-refugee-finds-identity-helping-others-resettle/4111531.htmlSun, 12 Nov 2017 05:41:54 -0500USAAsiawebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)https://www.voanews.com/a/rohingya-refugee-finds-identity-helping-others-resettle/4111531.html#commentsRohingya Refugee Finds His Identity Helping Others ResettleThe crackdown by military forces on the ethnic Muslim Rohingya population in Myanmar has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes and across international borders to seek refuge. Those fleeing from Myanmar, including Rohingya, now account for the largest number of refugees resettling in the United States. Their unique dialect has made resettlement and integration challenging and has fueled demand for those who can help guide them through their new life in America.https://www.voanews.com/a/rohingya-refugee-finds-his-identity-helping-others-resettle/4107583.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/rohingya-refugee-finds-his-identity-helping-others-resettle/4107583.htmlSun, 12 Nov 2017 05:39:00 -0500Asiawebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)Rohingya Refugees Push U.S. Lawmakers to ActHundreds of thousands of ethnic Muslim Rohingya have fled Myanmar for neighboring Bangladesh, pushed out of their homes in what the United Nations calls "textbook ethnic cleansing" by the Myanmar military. As the crisis continues to unfold, VOA's Kane Farabaugh reports many Rohingya in the United States frantically await word from friends and family in the conflict zone while urging the U.S. government to act to bring the crisis to an end.https://www.voanews.com/a/rohingya-refugees-push-us-lawmakers-to-act/4077077.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/rohingya-refugees-push-us-lawmakers-to-act/4077077.htmlThu, 19 Oct 2017 02:07:00 -0400USAAsiawebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)Rohingya Expatriates Push US Lawmakers to Act on Myanmar Although he hasn't seen his home country in more than a decade, modern technology has made it easy for Abdul Jabbar Amanullah to stay in regular contact with his family in Myanmar's remote Rakhine state.
Using email and social media to interact with loved ones has made his life as a refugee now living in Chicago a little easier, even if the latest news coming from his village has been growing increasingly unsettling.
“They are telling me the situation is [becoming even] worse because the military has them surrounded,” he told VOA.
For all that the technology has given him, however, it also has fueled his greatest fears. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya have been fleeing attacks in Rakhine in recent weeks. The last contact Amanullah had with family in his village is a blurry, 11-second video of towering flames… footage he says shows his village burning to the ground after Myanmar military forces came through.
“We don’t know who set fires,” Amanullah explained, though he suspects it was the military or groups aligned with them.
It's difficult for him to verify what’s going on in Myanmar because officials restrict access for journalists and aid workers, but hundreds of thousands of ethnic Muslim Rohingya have already fled for neighboring Bangladesh, pushed out of their homes in what the United Nations calls “textbook ethnic cleansing” by the Myanmar military.
WATCH: Rohingya Refugees Push U.S. Lawmakers to Act
Myanmar rejects claims
Myanmar officials reject those claims. They blame arsonists for the burning villages, and say the problems are being exaggerated.
As the crisis, and blame, continue to unfold, many Rohingya in the United States, particularly in Chicago — which is home to the second largest Rohingya community in the nation — frantically await word from friends and family still in the conflict zone. They search for any hint of news slowly trickling out of the refugee camps in Bangladesh.
“The story is very similar from everybody,” said Dr. Imran Akbar. “The military is coming in, they are torching the villages, they are shooting the men.There’s been countless reports of women being kidnapped, anywhere from 12 years old to older, being kidnapped and carried away and raped. They are not allowed to take anything with them, and the villagers are running for the hills.”
Akbar recently returned to Chicago after visiting several camps in Bangladesh, and shared his first-hand observations with Amanullah and others who gathered at the Rohingya Cultural Center in Chicago.
​“The lines are miles long waiting for food distribution,” he explained to VOA. “It rains there every day. With that there is constant mud and sludge and a lot of times impassible conditions for vehicles. Couple that with not having proper sanitation and not having adequate latrines and so forth, it creates the perfect environment for cholera and other infectious diseases.”
​Durbin meets with Rohingya in Chicago
Armed with pictures and first-hand video accounts, Akbar is taking their case directly to the U.S. government through Senator Dick Durbin, who listened to Akbar’s observations, as well as concerns from other Rohingya who gathered to make a direct appeal for U.S. action in their home country.
“What we know is this, there is an ethnic cleansing taking place in Myanmar today,” Durbin told VOA in an exclusive interview after his meeting with Rohingya community members in Chicago.
Durbin wants to immediately terminate military-to-military contact between the United States and Myanmar, something Congress, and the president, currently is evaluating.
“They should allow U.N. observers in immediately to see all of the territory in Myanmar currently occupied by the Rohingya people,” said Durbin. “There is no excuse for that. Until they allow that to happen, there is no reason the United States should send them aid.”
Myanmar ambassador meeting
Durbin believes finding a way to end the crisis has bipartisan support in Congress, and he says he plans to address the issue himself directly with the Myanmar government.
“My task is to really reach out directly to the Myanmar ambassador in Washington and demand that he come and meet with a group of senators who share my concerns, both Democrats and Republicans, about the ethnic cleansing taking place in his country,” said Durbin.
“Secondly, to join with Senator (John) McCain and others on both sides of the aisle to say the United States will not be complicit in this ethnic cleansing. We are going to cut off assistance to Myanmar if they refuse to allow U.N. observers, and if they continue to participate in this ethnic cleansing.”
Need ‘immediate action’
As Abdul Jabbar Amanullah seeks further news, or videos, from those in his home village, he hopes that whatever action the U.S. government takes isn't too late to help his family.
“The military is still doing the same thing they did before, setting the fires, killing the Rohingyas, so our first target is to stop this kind of stuff,” he said. “So that is my hope to Senator Durbin — he can raise his voice and tell Congress and our president to take immediate action with the Burmese government.”
Action he hopes that ultimately will lead to the end of a still unfolding humanitarian crisis, which already has forced more than half a million people from their homes.
https://www.voanews.com/a/rohingya-expatriates-push-us-lawmakers-to-act-on-myanmar/4076599.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/rohingya-expatriates-push-us-lawmakers-to-act-on-myanmar/4076599.htmlWed, 18 Oct 2017 18:30:10 -0400USAAsiawebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)https://www.voanews.com/a/rohingya-expatriates-push-us-lawmakers-to-act-on-myanmar/4076599.html#commentsAccepting Girls a Welcome Change in Boy Scouts of America Founder’s HometownWhen Matt Skelly was coming up through the Boy Scouts of America in his youth, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout was the ultimate accomplishment.
“Only 4 percent right now earn the rank of Eagle Scout,” Skelly told VOA. “It is a high honor, and a lot of people put a lot of stock in becoming an Eagle Scout.”
More than 2.4 million young men like Skelly have achieved Eagle Scout. Sometime in the not too distant future, however, this elite fraternity will mark the moment the first female joins their ranks.
“I think it’s kind of a natural progression,” said Skelly, who is part of a scouting family. He and his wife, Megan, began their careers as professional Scout executives with the Boy Scouts in Illinois in the late 1990s.
WATCH: Accepting Girls a Welcome Change in Boy Scouts of America Founders Hometown
Founder's hometown
While he no longer works for the Boy Scouts, it is hard for him to escape the legacy of the organization he still holds dear.
Skelly lives in the hometown of W.D. Boyce — founder of the Boy Scouts of America — and he serves on the board of the Ottawa Historical and Scouting Heritage Museum in the town that prominently features Boyce’s role in bringing the organization from the United Kingdom, where it began, to the United States.
Skelly says the decision to widely accept girls into the Boy Scouts of America isn’t a surprise to him because girls have been involved in other Scouting programs, like Explorers and Venture Scouts.
“Girls and young women have been a part of the Scouting program at an advanced age, 14 and up, for a long time.”
Criticism not unexpected
But allowing girls to join the Boy Scouts marks a dramatic change in the organization, and the decision quickly drew an online backlash, as well as criticism from the Girl Scouts, who now would have to compete for members.
Skelly admits there also are those within the Boy Scouts who may not view the change favorably, but then again, that’s not a surprise to him either because he’s heard it before.
“I go back to the 1980s, when women were first allowed to be Scout leaders,” he said, referring to the organization’s 1988 decision to end its policy of only allowing males to serve in leadership roles, something that until that point was frequently challenged in court. “I remember as a kid people would say, ‘oh my, the program is going to go down.’ But it only strengthened the program, as it did with Rotary when they allowed women in. And I think you have to be able to change as a program.”
“I wasn’t given any grief,” explained Mollie Perrot, who was one of the first women to volunteer as a Cub Scout leader in Illinois in the late 1980s.
“I know one lady in this area was the first lady Scoutmaster,” she told VOA. “I think she took a little bit of a ribbing from the guys. But I never had any problem with it.”
Perrot now serves as the executive director of the Ottawa Historical and Scouting Heritage Museum. While she is unsure how Boyce, who died in 1929, would welcome the changes to the organization he founded, she says that while Boyce lived in a different era, the principles and spirit of the movement remain the same, regardless of gender.
“I always said when I was a leader, if I could get a kid to live by the Scout oath and law, I figured they were one of the finest human beings on the face of the Earth,” she said. “I still believe that. If you can get girls to do that, I think the same thing.”
​New opportunities
Skelly says the Boy Scouts still have a lot to work out before they start welcoming girls into the organization, but he’s looking forward to new opportunities not just for himself as a volunteer, but also his family.
“It provides me an opportunity, in all honesty, that I’ll be able to do Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting programs eventually with my daughter.”
It’s an opportunity, for her, that begins in late 2018.
https://www.voanews.com/a/girls-welcome-change-in-boy-scouts-of-america-founders-hometown/4068734.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/girls-welcome-change-in-boy-scouts-of-america-founders-hometown/4068734.htmlFri, 13 Oct 2017 05:55:28 -0400USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)https://www.voanews.com/a/girls-welcome-change-in-boy-scouts-of-america-founders-hometown/4068734.html#commentsAccepting Girls a Welcome Change in Boy Scouts of America Founders HometownThe Boy Scouts of America announced it will begin accepting girls in 2018, marking a dramatic change in the organization and drawing criticism from the Girl Scouts, who will have to compete for members. As VOA's Kane Farabaugh reports, the changes are a welcome development for those historically connected to the Boy Scouts organization in the hometown of its founder.https://www.voanews.com/a/accepting-girls-welcome-change-in-boy-scouts-of-america-founders-hometown/4068670.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/accepting-girls-welcome-change-in-boy-scouts-of-america-founders-hometown/4068670.htmlFri, 13 Oct 2017 05:45:00 -0400USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)Tensions Follow Rohingya Refugees to United StatesAs she fastens her hijab while standing in the doorway of her modestly equipped apartment, Rohingya refugee Bibiasha Mohamad Tahir’s thoughts drift between the present, watching her infant daughter safely playing on the floor of this sunlit living room in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and the past, the haunting images of death and destruction in her home village in the Rakhine state of Myanmar.
“They shot and killed people,” she told VOA through a translator who understands her dialect, one closely related to the Bengali language. “They burnt down everything ... we had [no] place to stay. They laid down broken glass, wires on the roads. They held people at gunpoint.”
Denied the ability to freely travel, unable to attend school or work, and not considered citizens of the country they were living in, the increasing violence reinforced to Tahir and her family that staying in Myanmar no longer was an option.
“We’ve lived there for years, for generations. Our grandparents lived there. Now, they cannot live there in peace. They’re setting villages on fire, everything on fire. They’re killing people. They are burning down everything. There is no peace,” she said.
​Fleeing to the U.S.
So Tahir, her husband and children fled Myanmar, arriving in Malaysia before eventually reaching the United States in 2014.
More than 500,000 Muslim Rohingya like her have fled Myanmar in the wake of a brutal military crackdown that a top United Nations human rights official calls “ethnic cleansing.” It has fueled a humanitarian crisis as hundreds of thousands of Rohingya seek refuge in camps in neighboring Bangladesh, while waiting to be resettled in another country.
The crisis has increased the number of Rohingya refugees arriving in the United States; more than 5,000 have arrived since 2015.
But instead of landing in Chicago or Milwaukee, two cities home to a large number of Rohingya, Tahir and her family instead arrived in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and became one of the first Rohingya families in the area.
A Burmese community
Burmese community members believe there are now more than 150 Rohingya families living in Fort Wayne, and although their numbers are growing, their community remains a small fraction of the more than 6,000 Burmese of various ethnic groups now living in the city.
Most of the foreign-born Burmese population in Fort Wayne speak a different language and practice different religions than the Rohingya, and the ethnic tensions and religious persecution that fueled their flight from Myanmar don’t necessarily end once they arrive here.
“Why I don’t like Rohingya to come to Fort Wayne is … most of them, almost 100 percent, are Muslims,” said Burmese Chin community leader Abraham Thang, who moved to Fort Wayne in the 1990s.
“They’re blood is Muslims, not Buddhist, not Christians. They did very terrible job, like attacking the military and police post, and killing and murdering the Hindus. That is not good for Rohingyas. That is the big mistake by Rohingyas.”
Thang, a pastor at the Myanmar Indigenous Christian Church, was one of the few Burmese willing to talk to VOA about Rohingya resettlement in Fort Wayne, and while he emphasizes these views are his own opinions, they are indicative of the same resentments Rohingya face in Myanmar.
“I don’t mind they practice what they believe,” Thang explained to VOA. “What I mind is extremism. Most of the terrorists come from the Muslim community. This is what I am thinking in my mind personally. So my opinion is, rather than sending Rohingya to Fort Wayne, and not sending them here is better don’t send Rohingya to Fort Wayne.”
Mayor: All welcome here
“That’s unfortunate,” said Fort Wayne’s mayor, Tom Henry. “I want anybody from Myanmar to know they are welcome in our community.”
Henry, a Democrat, has made Burmese integration into life in this city of more than 250,000 a priority of his administration.
“We try to pride ourselves in being a welcoming community, an inclusive community, a community that allows people to assimilate throughout our community and if they want to ultimately become an American citizen, we’ve got the tools in place to help that happen. So when I hear that there is that kind of tension and anxiety behind the scenes, that disturbs me.”
But some community members, like Thang, worry that an increasing number of new arrivals will only fuel tensions.
“I foresee the Burmese people and the Rohingya people in the future, sooner or later, we will have conflict and that is not good for the Fort Wayne community.”
The mayor disagrees.
“I don’t see that happening,” Henry said. “We have a very safe community.”
Rohingya feel welcomed
The Rohingya refugees in Fort Wayne who agreed to speak to VOA all have indicated they do not believe they have been marginalized or persecuted by other Burmese in the area. None have experienced any open hostility to their arrival, and they say so far, they have been welcomed and assisted in their resettlement.
Although she now feels safer, Bibiasha Mohamad Tahir is still adjusting to her new life in America, and wonders when she’ll finally feel “settled.”
“We couldn’t find peace in our own country ... how could we find peace here?”
While peace might remain elusive, she soon may find comfort among an increasing number of familiar faces as more than 500,000 Rohingya search for new homes, and new lives away from the violence that continues to plague Myanmar.
https://www.voanews.com/a/tensions-follow-rohingya-refugees-to-united-states/4059082.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/tensions-follow-rohingya-refugees-to-united-states/4059082.htmlFri, 06 Oct 2017 06:00:33 -0400USAAsiawebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)https://www.voanews.com/a/tensions-follow-rohingya-refugees-to-united-states/4059082.html#commentsTensions Follow Rohingya Refugees to United StatesMore than 500,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled persecution in Myanmar into Bangladesh in recent months. Some could end up as refugees resettled abroad, like earlier waves of Rohingya who fled. VOA's Kane Farabaugh visited Fort Wayne, Indiana, one of the largest Burmese communities in America, where more than 150 Rohingya families have resettled in recent years. He reports that the tensions between the groups continue even in their new home.https://www.voanews.com/a/tensions-follow-rohingya-refugees-to-united-states/4058936.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/tensions-follow-rohingya-refugees-to-united-states/4058936.htmlFri, 06 Oct 2017 05:50:00 -0400USAAsiawebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)US Wheat Production Lowest in Recorded HistoryAmerican farmers are on track to plant the fewest acres of wheat since the U.S. Department of Agriculture began keeping records in 1919. As VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, climate and price are just a few of the many factors influencing a farmer’s decision to grow and harvest the crop.https://www.voanews.com/a/4033636.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/4033636.htmlSat, 16 Sep 2017 12:09:00 -0400USAEconomywebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)US Wheat Production Lowest in Recorded HistoryFarmer Russ Higgins' ancestors settled a wide expanse of land south of Morris, Illinois, in 1858. Through the U.S. Civil War and every major event since then, there has been someone from the Higgins family planting and harvesting on the land.
Since the first plow churned up the fertile soil here nearly 160 years ago, one crop that always had a place among the fields was wheat.
“The next crop is going to go in as soon as we take this year’s soybean crop out, hopefully within the next two and half to three weeks,” Higgins told VOA, before hopping on his all-terrain vehicle to head out into his fields.
As he makes his way beyond large rolls of hay and towering corn stalks that are just about ready to harvest, the one thing that is noticeably absent is the wheat. Higgins says the reason for this is because he already has harvested the crop from his fields. It’s now out of season for the harvest and just ahead of the time to plant the new crop for the winter.
But the reason you don’t see it beyond a narrow patch on Higgins property has nothing to do with the time of year.
“When you think about what a farmer actually grows, it’s driven by demand, and that demand also is by the prices that they can receive,” said Higgins, who says that demand is not for wheat.
“I’ve watched Illinois over the last 20 years really concentrate on corn and soybean,” he noted.
What is true for Illinois is also true for Higgins, who now dedicates only a small part of his farm for wheat, which this year provided a modest return on his investment.
“We averaged about 83 bushels this year,” he said. “Truth be told, it’s probably going to be better than corn or soybeans.”
Better or not, Higgins says the climate in northern Illinois is not ideal for large scale growth of wheat, and since there’s less farmers producing it, it’s a cost prohibitive cash crop.
“There’s not a readily available market year round. We have a chance to market wheat within a three-week window once we harvest the crop. If we decide to hang on to the crop beyond that, when it comes time to deliver, we’re going to have the deliver to those terminals that are still accepting wheat, and in cases, the trucking and the mileage to those locations make it not a viable option.”
American farmers are on track to plant the fewest acres of wheat since the U.S. Agriculture Department began keeping records in 1919. Executive Director of the Illinois Wheat Association, Jim Fraley, says a major factor for wheat’s demise in the U.S. is global competition.
“It’s grown in countries that are really underdeveloped but still growing good wheat crops to help feed themselves,” Fraley told VOA from the 2017 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois. “So the U.S. has entered into the field of play with many different countries. Countries like France, Russia, Germany… countries that can’t grow corn very well, but they have the climate to be able to grow wheat. Even Canada is a great country to produce oat, wheat.”
Fraley also points to another factor — the eating habits and dieting fads of consumers.
“There’s a big gluten-free craze, and that’s probably hurt wheat consumption a little bit,” he explained. “The thing is, we have to pretty much use our wheat domestically. We want to use it locally, and anything else we are trying to sell to other countries. That’s where were running into this world market that’s very competitive and that’s why prices are feeling some pressure right now.”
Here in the U.S., Fraley says past experience with growing wheat also is influencing a farmer’s future decisions about what to plant.
“A lot of them still remember the wheat of 10 and 20 years ago, where test weight was poor, quality was poor, and it just never paid,” Fraley explained. “But the varieties today, and the management techniques we can use in regard to fungicide application and disease management have really improved in the last few years, and it’s making wheat viable and profitable to grow here in Illinois again.”
Profitable or not, farmer Russ Higgins says it isn’t as simple as changing the seeds a farmer plants in the ground.
“For those who have not grown wheat for a number of years, there’s a little bit of a risk with wheat,” said Higgins. “Corn and soybean yields tend to be more consistent, so I think there’s an upside to that.”
If low prices for corn and soybean continue to sink a farmer’s overall profits, however, Higgins says the upside could be a return to wheat. “If the time comes for the prices increase, you might see a return of some of the wheat acres, or if you see more livestock come back in the area.”
But that’s a big “if,” and if there’s one thing a farmer likes less than low prices for the crops he’s growing, it’s uncertainty about the weather and environment, and how they will affect the yield a farmer can depend on when it comes time to harvest.
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-wheat-production-lowest-in-recorded-history/4031636.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-wheat-production-lowest-in-recorded-history/4031636.htmlSat, 16 Sep 2017 08:39:00 -0400USAEconomywebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)While Stock Market Soars, US Farmers StruggleThe annual Farm Progress Show held every other year in Decatur, a town situated among the vast corn and soybean fields of central Illinois, is one of the largest farming exhibitions in the world, where manufacturers and suppliers show their latest and greatest products and equipment.
In some cases, it’s a starting point for farmers researching what big-ticket items are available to make their work in the fields more efficient, and easier.
But all Tolono, Illinois farmer Jeff Fisher can do at the John Deere exhibit at this year’s show… is look.
“A quarter of a million dollars list price for this planter,” he says, pointing to the large tractor behind him painted in the distinctive green and yellow colors of John Deere.“This is just a medium-size planter, and it isn’t a large planter by today’s standards.I’m interested in a planter, a notch below this planter, but the commodity prices aren’t high enough to be able to afford it.”
It’s been over five years since Fisher’s been able to afford new equipment, the last time he says he made a profit.
“The economics are tough on the farm,” he told VOA.“The profit margin isn’t there.We’re losing money where the cost of production of corn is higher than the price of corn on the Chicago Board of Trade and our local price.”
Stocks, costs up, commodity prices down
While U.S. stock indexes continue to see record-breaking gains and U.S. employment numbers are encouraging, U.S. farmers continue to struggle with high costs for fertilizer and seed at a time of low demand and low prices for their products.
The United States Department of Agriculture reports median net farm income in 2016 was the lowest since 2009, but projects a modest increase overall for 2017.However, the year-over-year hardship for many U.S. farmers has impacted more than just the agricultural industry.
“The Equipment Manufacturers Association released some pretty dismal numbers for farm equipment sales, and what that means to Caterpillar and Deere, that’s troublesome,” says Tamara Nelsen, senior director of commodities for the Illinois Farm Bureau, who outlined the interconnected relationship between manufacturing jobs and farmers like Fisher.
“If a farmer cannot afford to buy this, then those 25 workers that work to make it and the steelworkers who produce the steel, and all of the people involved in the parts they are not going to have jobs either.So farmers need to have good markets just like manufacturers need to have good markets.”
And it’s not just in the United States.The Association of Equipment Manufacturers or AEM also reported a 14 percent decrease in overall farm equipment exports for the first three quarters of 2016.Sales were down 44 percent from 2015 in Asia and 28 percent in South America.
“Our biggest concern is just being able to make it to next year to try again,” says farmer Mark Bremer, who grows corn and soybeans on his property in the southern Illinois town of Metropolis, where he also raises livestock.Like Fisher, he’s also getting by using old equipment to make ends meet.
“We would love to update, we’d love to purchase new technology and stuff, but that technology comes with a price – that technology didn’t come free,” he said.
Bremer isn’t sure when he’ll be able to afford new equipment, and is worried about the crop yield this year thanks to a lack of rainfall.
“Every year’s an experiment and that experiment is called farming,” he told VOA.“We’re not guaranteed the rain, we’re not guaranteed the price and we’re not guaranteed the yield either so it’s a continual challenge of making it.”
There’s also no guarantee next year will be better, but Fisher still has hope.
“We’re in the bottom of that roller coaster ride right now – I hope it doesn’t get worse,” he said.
A roller coaster ride that continues in just a few weeks as the next, and perhaps most important phase of his work as a farmer begins – harvesting this year’s corn and soybeans.
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-farmers-struggle-despite-stock-market-rise/4024927.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-farmers-struggle-despite-stock-market-rise/4024927.htmlTue, 12 Sep 2017 02:09:09 -0400USAEconomywebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)https://www.voanews.com/a/us-farmers-struggle-despite-stock-market-rise/4024927.html#commentsWhile Stock Market Soars, US Farmers StruggleWhile U.S. stock indexes continue to see record breaking gains and U.S. employment numbers are encouraging, American farmers continue to struggle with high costs for fertilizer and seed at a time when demand and prices for their products are low. As VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports, the economic hardship has a ripple effect beyond the farmers' fields.https://www.voanews.com/a/4024917.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/4024917.htmlMon, 11 Sep 2017 23:07:00 -0400USAEconomywebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)US Farmers Look for Economic Boost From NAFTA NegotiationsKen Beck characterizes his life as a farmer in the U.S. right now as a gamble.
"Risky at best," he told VOA. "There is no money in this game anymore."
Beck says he is entering a fifth year of losing money, due in part to lower corn and soy prices, along with high input costs for fertilizer and seed.
But he says there is something the U.S. government can do to help.
"Trade. Which is under attack right now."
The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP agreement, earlier this year erased Beck’s hope for increased demand and, ultimately, a boost in prices for his corn and soybeans.
That is why he now is closely watching the U.S. government’s efforts to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, with Canada and Mexico.
Campaign promises
Renegotiating NAFTA fulfills a campaign promise made by President Donald Trump. While much of the focus is on manufacturing jobs, the original NAFTA agreement, signed in 1994, provided a critical boost for U.S. agricultural exports, and farmers like Beck are concerned about any changes to the current agreement that could negatively affect their bottom line.
"For a corn producer, grain producer, NAFTA’s been extremely good," said Beck, standing not far from some of that produce, which could ultimately travel south of border after it is harvested later this year.
The U.S. sent more than $2.5 billion of corn to Mexico in 2016, making the U.S. one of the top suppliers to its southern neighbor.
"They have a rising middle class there that wants to eat protein, and I produce protein," Beck explained.
But this year, Mexican imports of both U.S. soybean and corn are down, and Beck knows his protein isn’t the only one on the market.
"Mexico for the first time in history bought corn from Argentina. Was it cheaper? No. But they are sending a signal," he said.
Other signals that concern Beck are those from Trump, who has threatened to withdraw from NAFTA, creating further uncertainty for U.S. farmers.
"I think everybody’s running a little bit scared because we are in uncharted territory," he told VOA.
"If you have a shock like pulling out of TPP or not keeping the agreement going on NAFTA, it makes the markets nervous and it lowers the farmers' farm income," said Tamara Nelsen, senior director of commodities for the Illinois Farm Bureau.
She has heard from many farmers in recent weeks, including those she met with during the 2017 Farm Progress show in Decatur, Illinois — one of the largest farm shows in the country — who tell her they are concerned about the increased rhetoric as negotiations continue.
"We hope that some of the rhetoric, like anti-trade, anti-exports for agriculture, will turn around and we’ll actually have some achievements," said Nelsen.
Status quo
Meanwhile, Beck said he wasn't looking for dramatic changes for agriculture in NAFTA, and would be satisfied with the status quo.
"Hopefully, cooler heads prevail and we can tweak this," he said, "or do a little something, and nothing much really changes."
Whatever happens, Nelsen says it’s important to reach a new agreement — soon. "There’s a presidential election next year in Mexico, and so if things do not move quickly, it’s possible they might make progress here in the U.S. and Canada and Mexico in the next four months, and then we might see a slide into some stalemate. So the hope is, by ag groups and others, to keep it moving."
Beck also hopes negotiations keep moving, because time to make money isn’t on his side at the moment.
"Decisions in the next few weeks are going to have to be made for next year already," he noted. “If you are going to start cutting costs, where do you start?”
As Beck keeps one eye on his bank account, the other is looking at the skies above his Illinois farm as he deals with the other major unknown in his life right now: the weather.
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-farmers-look-for-economic-boost-from-nafta-negotiations/4014183.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/us-farmers-look-for-economic-boost-from-nafta-negotiations/4014183.htmlMon, 04 Sep 2017 09:30:51 -0400USAEconomywebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)https://www.voanews.com/a/us-farmers-look-for-economic-boost-from-nafta-negotiations/4014183.html#commentsSmall Missouri Town Is a Big Draw for Solar EclipseThere is a saying that “lightning never strikes twice” in any location. The same could be said for a total solar eclipse over the United States, a rare event ... except in a small patch of the United States that includes a small Missouri town, a place VOA’s Kane Farabaugh reports is a prime location for current and future stargazers to study a rare phenomenon.https://www.voanews.com/a/small-missouri-town-a-big-draw-for-solar-eclipse/3995430.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/small-missouri-town-a-big-draw-for-solar-eclipse/3995430.htmlTue, 22 Aug 2017 02:57:00 -0400USAScience & Healthwebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)Solar Eclipse Fuels Demand, Anxiety, for Viewing LensesOn Monday, Aug. 21, for the first time in 99 years, a solar eclipse will march across the United States from west coast to east coast, and excitement is building across the nation. Experts advise that people wear specific, protective eyewear to view the eclipse, but as VOA's Kane Farabaugh reports, finding the special lenses is becoming a difficult task.https://www.voanews.com/a/solar-eclipse-fuels-demand-for-viewing-lenses/3992230.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/solar-eclipse-fuels-demand-for-viewing-lenses/3992230.htmlSat, 19 Aug 2017 10:00:00 -0400USAScience & Healthwebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)‘Hello Neighbor’ Builds Cultural Bridges for Refugees in Pittsburgh M. Kazam Hashimi has experienced a series of firsts since leaving Afghanistan: his first American meal; his first American job; and now; his first American baseball game at the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, PNC Park.
“First time ever for my family,” he told VOA in an interview at the stadium along the banks of the Allegheny River, one of three that give Pittsburgh its unique geographic identity. “In Afghanistan, people are a very big fan of soccer. They don’t know anything about the Pirates.”
Hashimi’s arrival at PNC Park is a welcome but unexpected part of a longer journey fleeing war in Afghanistan, where he worked as a translator for the U.S. Army… a job that became increasingly dangerous.
“So I quit working there in 2009,” he explains somberly, “because my family and I got threatened to death. So I had to quit, I had to leave.”
Special immigration visa
Granted a special immigration visa during the Obama administration, Hashimi and his family arrived in the U.S. in 2015. Although he spoke English, and had connections with former U.S. military members he served with in Afghanistan, Hashimi was a stranger in a strange land trying to understand a very different culture.
That’s when he received an email from a new nonprofit organization in Pittsburgh called “Hello Neighbor.”
“The email said you will get to meet new American families, you will understand American culture,” Hashimi said. “Basically everything about the United States, about the people. So I was very interested. My family as well.”
The first 90 days
The initial 90-day resettlement program for refugees in the United States is filled with activities and appointments that help them find a place to live, a place to work, and initial introductions to American culture. But integration into life in America extends well beyond 90 days, something Pittsburgh native Sloane Davidson realized when she set out to create the “Hello Neighbor” program matching refugee and immigrant families with American mentors in the city.
'Hello Neighbor' Builds Cultural Bridges for Refugees in Pittsburgh
“If you think about the first 90 days you’ve done anything — a new job, a new relationship, a new city — it’s a whirlwind,” she said. “When those three months are over, a lot of the traditional support that we give people who are new to this country under refugee status goes away. And the goal for them is to be self sufficient.”
The larger Pittsburgh area has one of the smallest percentages of foreign-born residents in the U.S., and the Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Pittsburgh reports resettlement agencies now place roughly 500 refugees in the city each year. With additional secondary migrants, about 8,000 refugees have arrived in Pittsburgh in the last five years, many of them from Bhutan, Burma, Somalia and Iraq.
As Davidson researched support systems in place, she learned that there wasn’t much to help them beyond the 90-day State Department resettlement program. She also learned there were Americans looking for ways to get involved helping newly arrived refugees, but no way to connect with them.
“You had refugees and immigrants who typically didn’t have any American friends because their lives are very isolated,” she said. Along with the isolation, Davidson added, were increased challenges adapting to the new environment.
“Language and transportation are an issue,” she said. “And I really thought about how these two groups could come together and have meaningful interactions.”
​Building bridges, making friends
So she began hosting events like museum tours, picnics and library visits, pairing refugee families with American mentors like Michelle Boehm.
“I think it’s vital,” Boehm said. “I think we need to introduce these people into our culture. I think we need to accept them with open arms and help them integrate.”
Taking in “America’s Favorite Pastime” isn’t just a first for the Hashimis. Davidson says Hello Neighbor’s Refugee and Immigrant Night at PNC Park is also a first for the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball organization, a welcome development in a city she hopes will be more inviting.
“Here in Pittsburgh, we talk about being a city of bridges, and how we build bridges,” she said. “And that mentality should extend, but doesn’t always, to the new wave of refugees and immigrants coming in.”
Michelle Boehm says her family has integrated so well with the Hashimis they are more than mentors … they are friends.
“Their kids are 6, 5 and 3, and mine are 6 and 2,” she told VOA. “So it wound up being perfect as far as the age ranges go, and they love hanging out.”
Thanks to Hello Neighbor, the city of Pittsburgh has built a bridge into Kazam Hashimi’s heart.
“City of Bridges. I love it … it is very friendly,” he said, smiling under his new Pittsburgh Pirates baseball cap.
​Program grows
Right now Davidson says there are about 25 refugee families paired with 25 families in Pittsburgh, and that number is growing thanks to encouraging responses by the community to events like the one at PNC Park, which also helps draw in new volunteers.
The growing success of the Hello Neighbor program could soon build bridges beyond the Steel City, and may also help the Hashimis mark another first — the first participants in a wider “Hello Neighbor” movement.
“I’m getting emails every day saying can you bring this to Seattle, to Columbus, to Boston, to Hudson Valley, to Indianapolis, to Detroit,” Sloane Davidson told VOA. “I had a mayors office in the Midwest email me and say we want to do something like this, can you help us set it up?”
Davidson is happy to know the idea is catching on, and is encouraged by the growing support for the program locally, which includes a recent $130,000 joint commitment from The Heinz Endowments and the USA for UNHCR to fund the program in Pittsburgh.
https://www.voanews.com/a/hello-neighbor-pittsburgh-refugees/3973506.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/hello-neighbor-pittsburgh-refugees/3973506.htmlSat, 05 Aug 2017 05:45:36 -0400USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)https://www.voanews.com/a/hello-neighbor-pittsburgh-refugees/3973506.html#comments'Hello Neighbor' Builds Cultural Bridges for Refugees in PittsburghThe initial 90-day resettlement program for refugees in the United States is a whirlwind of activity that helps them find a place to live, a place to work, and initial introductions to American life and culture. But integration into American life extends well beyond 90 days. VOA's Kane Farabaugh reports on one woman in Pittsburgh who is trying to help refugee and immigrant families connect with the rest of the community.https://www.voanews.com/a/hello-neighbor-builds-cultural-bridges-for-refugees-in-pittsburgh/3973122.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/hello-neighbor-builds-cultural-bridges-for-refugees-in-pittsburgh/3973122.htmlSat, 05 Aug 2017 05:45:00 -0400USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)Chicago Youth Hope to ‘Increase the Peace’ to Combat ViolenceWhen he woke July 5 to news that more than 100 people had been shot in the city of Chicago over the long Independence Day holiday weekend — 15 of them fatally — 16-year-old Carlos Yanez shrugged it off.
“After a while, you just get used to it,” Carlos said. “I mean, what can you do? We don’t have no one helping us. What can we do?”
Gun violence plagues Chicago, a city of more than 2.7 million, where nearly 2,000 people have been shot so far this year.
Though the number of shootings is slightly down from last year, the problem has caught the attention of the Trump administration, which has ordered more federal agents to assist state and local law enforcement in the Midwestern city. But Carlos said an increased police presence and a national spotlight on the violence have not helped those living in these South Chicago neighborhoods.
​‘Gets worse and worse’
“It’s been going on and it just gets worse and worse,” he said, the resignation clear in his voice. “Chicago’s broke, CPS (Chicago Public Schools) is broke and yet they are funding all these cameras on every street corner, all these speed bumps, all these turnabouts. All these new cop cars, all this new equipment, but yet they still can’t fix the violence.”
It is violence Carlos himself has narrowly avoided. He said even though he’s not affiliated with a gang, he’s dodged bullets five times. Many of those around him have been injured, or died.
“Just a couple of months ago, a 28-year-old man was killed right on this block,” said Berto Aguayo, standing outside a church in the predominantly Hispanic Back of the Yards neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side.
Aguayo is a community organizer with The Resurrection Project, a nonprofit organization that, among other things, is trying to work at the grassroots level to combat the violence.
“I lived two blocks away from here. I was a gang member in this community back in my younger days. I’ve lost friends to gang violence. I lost my first friend when I was 13 years old. And that’s a typical story of people here on the South Side of Chicago. Death is a constant fear.”
But on a balmy Friday evening, fear seems far away from these streets in the neighborhood Aguayo grew up in.
​‘Increase the peace’
Instead of gunshots, drumbeats and chants fill the air as he leads a group, mostly of young people, on a protest march to “increase the peace.”
“This idea originated back in October 2016, when a 16-year-old girl was killed in front of our office,” Aguayo explained. “It became a point of the community being fed up. Young people were fed up with the violence they were witnessing.”
He said that became a catalyst for the Increase the Peace campaign.
“Youth decided, hey, why don’t we camp out on a street corner on a Friday night that is usually plagued by violence on a Friday night. What we try to do here is really stay on a block, and have a positive presence, and promote peace through our young people,” Aguayo said.
“It’s bringing people together, not ostracizing anyone,” Deztinee Geiger said. “The ostracization is what causes people to pick up a gun a lot of the time.”
Geiger is one of the youth leaders of this event at St. Joseph’s church, the first of several planned for Fridays this summer throughout different neighborhoods.
‘Respond with positive energy’
Carlos, the 16-year-old who also is one of the youth organizers of the Increase the Peace campaign, said the message is simple: “You don’t always have to respond with violence. You can respond with positive energy.”
But Carlos and Geiger both realize that marches and backyard cookouts can only go so far.
“The root of the problem is lack of resources, which results in violence,” Geiger said. “So therefore to fix the fact that violence exists, you have to fix the fact that there are a lack of resources.”
One resource Geiger thinks would help is a youth or community center, so those most at risk have a permanent place to go for positive activities. But with or without those resources, Geiger said the primary goal is to “change the narrative” of the violence shaping the city.
“I don’t think the violence will shape us. I think the leadership by young people is going to shape us. I think that what’s beautiful about this is that it’s not focused on violence,” Geiger said.
But it is violence that continues. On the weekend Geiger spoke to VOA, 41 people were shot in the city, three fatally, underscoring the need to “increase the peace.”
https://www.voanews.com/a/chicago-youth-peace-combat-violence/3945373.html
https://www.voanews.com/a/chicago-youth-peace-combat-violence/3945373.htmlSun, 16 Jul 2017 05:42:46 -0400USAwebdesk@voanews.com (Kane Farabaugh)https://www.voanews.com/a/chicago-youth-peace-combat-violence/3945373.html#comments